Sometimes (I wish)
by killians-dashingrescue
Summary: Captain Swan modern au where Emma is a fashion designer who specializes on making wedding garments despite the fact of not believing on finding true love. When a handsome man enters her shop, she starts questioning herself on what is true love.
1. Chapter 1

**_I've written this story for my bestie oncertwice, based on a prompt she gave me, as a gift since it's her birthday tomorrow. This story will have at least six parts and will be updated weekly (fingers crossed).  
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**_Thanks to neverlandspirate for proof reading it and helping me brainstorm on the story and to navykillian for being such a nice and wonderful beta!_**

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The familiar ringing sound echoed through Emma's bedroom urging her to wake up. A half asleep groan escaped her lips as her hand went to tap at her nightstand in search of the origin of the horrid sound. Her hand made contact with her phone as she lifted her head, and pressed snooze. She looked quickly at the time and her eyes widened when she saw that it was already seven o'clock. She must have slept through her other alarms.

Emma got up from her bed and walked to the other end of her small apartment to get to her bathroom and wash up. She had been living in this place for a year now, ever since her ex-fiancé broke off their engagement a week before their wedding. When Walsh had told her that he couldn't see a future with her despite his feelings for her, she felt her world crumbling down realizing that no man could love her, at least not in the way she thought she should be loved.

She convinced herself after she had gotten her heart broken that there was only a handful of people in this world who might be able to benefit from a fairy tale love where the couple would live happily ever after and have lots of kids. Her sister Mary Margaret, for instance, was one of the few who had the chance to experience that kind of love and happiness. She had met David in college, and it was love at first sight for the two of them, their relationship starting off like the perfect fairy tale. It was not always easy, but they loved each other so much that they had made their way through their issues as hard as they may be, together, which at times could be nauseating for Emma.

When Walsh dumped her, she had to get her things out of the condo that they were renting together, and she went apartment hunting. Emma made a fair amount of money, so she could afford to pay for something luxurious, but settled for a small apartment, in which she felt comfortable. There was a small hallway near the entrance, on the right side of the corridor there was a closet and on the left a door that led to the bathroom. At the end of the hallway there was an open space in which there was the kitchen/dining room and on the left a small living room. Her bedroom being at the other end of the apartment, a wall with a sliding door separated the living room from her bedroom.

Her eyes now wide open after splashing some cold water over her face, Emma went into the kitchen to start her coffee maker, since she prepared it the night before with the perfect dose of grinded coffee and water. While waiting for her morning fuel to get ready, she walked through her apartment and went to her bedroom and got dressed. She opted for a tight high waisted skirt, the hem of the skirt stopping at her knees, and decided to put on a long sleeved shirt, with thin black horizontal stripes and thick white stripes and pulled her hair up in a high ponytail. She slipped her feet into a pair of black pumps, and applied a bit of make-up before heading back to her kitchen.

She grabbed a granola bar from her pantry, poured her coffee in a to-go mug, her handbag now resting on her shoulder, and made her way to work. For the past four years, Emma has been the co-owner of a clothing shop. Her friend Tink and she were both fashion designers and decided to take advantage of the wedding market by specializing themselves in making wedding garments for bridesmaids, groomsmen, grooms and brides. They both had a portfolio containing their creations in which the client could look through and decide what they would want and make some changes, or in some cases they could talk with the designer of their choice and create their own gowns or tux.

Tink and Emma debated for a long time on what they wanted to name the store. Every name her friend came up with, Emma rolled her eyes and complained that it was too cheesy, not original or that she simply didn't like it. Tink insisted on naming the shop with a fairy tale themed name, since every fairy tale story gets their happy ending with a wedding. She finally met her friend half way and agreed on calling the store, _The Enchanted Swan_.

She took a cab to work and arrived fifteen minutes later, her coffee almost finished. Entering the store she was greeted by one their receptionists, Ella, from behind the counter. Emma smiled at her and walked around the counter to join her employee and instantly went to the computer, to check on her appointments for the day. Her day looked pretty slow, one fitting, and one appointment with a some new clients, a couple who wanted their wedding clothes custom made.

Emma had time to finish her coffee and headed towards the bathroom to brush her teeth before her fitting, not wanting to have a coffee breath while she tweaked Aurora's gown. When she was done she walked over to her work area where she and Tink worked on the clothing and where they did the fittings for their clients. She headed towards the headless mannequin and inspected the gown, as she tried to refresh her memory on what she needed to work on. A couple of minutes later, there was a knock on the door and a brunette peaked out of it.

"Hello Aurora, come in. I was waiting for you." Emma smiled as she greeted the bride to be and guided her into the room. She showed where the changing rooms were and waited for her to come back out. When she did, she took out the tools she needed and started adjusting the dress.

"So how is the wedding planning coming along?" She took a few steps back and tilted her head to the side as she tried to see if the gown fit her well.

"Good. Philip and I are going to visit one of the two venues we have narrowed down."

"That's nice. Do you have a preference?"

"We do. We already saw one of the venues and it was okay, a nice reception hall, but way too expensive for what they had to offer, which is practically nothing. The one we are visiting this weekend, is very nice, and the cost includes the wedding decorations. We saw some of their sets on their website and they are quite pretty. I really hope it will look as good as the pictures."

"I hope for you guys it will."

"Anyways, enough about me. How are things with you?"

"Busy as usual, the wedding season is coming along, so I'm pretty busy making wedding garments."

"That's good for your business." She cheered on, which made her smile at her client enthusiasm.

"It is, but this gives me less time to actually have a decent social life."

"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Aurora inquired, the question making her flinch. It was _the _dreaded question that her female clients always asked her, looking for any occasion to fix her up with one of their fiancé's bachelor friends.

"I don't." She simply answered not wanting to go into details.

"Isn't it hard for you to work in the wedding industry and not have a someone special?" It was hard but Emma couldn't tell her that, she didn't like to have pity from anyone, so she did as she usually did, _lied_.

"It isn't, I mean I focus on making the garments, and it's something that I love to do. And well, marriage isn't for everyone, so maybe it's just something that isn't in the cards for me." Emma took several steps backward and looked at the dress and asked Aurora to turn around so she could see the full effect. The brunette did as told and swirled slowly.

"I'm sure you'll find someone special one day and you'll have your chance at marriage."

_'Yeah when I'm dead.'_ Emma thought cynically. Still she smiled at her client's comment, knowing that she was just in the high of her own wedding preparation and she could only see the good side to all of this.

Emma helped her out of the gown, and put it back on her mannequin and walked over to the front desk with her. She told her that she'll call her when she's finished altering the details of dress and that it should take two or three months to get done.

Aurora leaned in for a hug, which took her by surprise every time a bride got way too intimate with her. They said goodbye and Emma looked at the clock behind the reception desk and saw that it was almost eleven o'clock, when her next appointment with her new clients was due to l start.

She decided to stay in front of the shop and wait for her new clients to arrive. She talked a bit with Ella and decided to skim through Tink's look book when her receptionist had to answer a call.

Emma always liked going through her colleague's portfolio since they both had such different styles in their creations and she found it inspiring to look at them. As she was looking through the pictures, a man came to stand next to her and started to look through her book.

She tried subtly to inspect the man who was looking through her work. She felt her breath stop when she saw the man's profile. Emma felt mesmerized by him, dark brown hair, thick eyebrows, the straight line of his nose, and his strong jawline covered with light scruff, which had some hints of ginger. He looked like one of those models that grazed the covers of the magazines and she couldn't help but to mentally imagine that man in a nice simple tux.

Emma felt her cheeks for red when the man turned his head around, probably aware that the woman next to him was gawking at him. Her breath definitely got caught in her throat when she saw the bright, deep blue of his eyes, which was such a big contrast with the rest of traits. She gulped down and straightened herself, trying to get her wits together not accustomed to a man have such a strong effect on her.

"Can I help you?" She managed to ask as she tried to give him one of her most professional smile.

"I was just looking through the book, thank you." He answered as she gripped herself on the counter when she heard the lilting accent coming out of lips.

"Do you always just go inside a clothing shop and start looking through the books?" Emma teased with a flirtatious smile which he returned. That was enough for her to burst into flames.

"Only when there's a pretty lass." She would have normally rolled her eyes at a comment like that but she couldn't stifle the snort that came out of her, which instantly made him smile.

"Wow, that was pretty lame."

The man laughed at her comment and she found endearing how this incredibly handsome man was now shy, his cheeks all flushed as he scratched his ear, eyes glued to the floor.

"Sorry, it's all I could come up with. I'm Killian by the way." The smile he gave her was enough to turn her stomach upside down. They continued exchanging this sort of flirtatious banter throughout the following minutes, Emma completely forgetting that she was supposed to have an appointment.

After a few minutes of them exchanging pleasantries and some flirting, she felt herself get more and more attracted to the man in front of her, in a way that she hasn't felt like since, well never. There was something about him that pulled her to him, a glint in his eyes that sent a spark throughout her body.

Emma was debating internally with herself, wondering if she should maybe ask him for his number, something that she _never _does. After a pause between them, she took a deep breath as to gain the courage necessary.

As she was about to open her mouth and ask him for his number, the door of the shop opened as a red haired woman came waltzing in. She instantly walked towards them with a huge grin on her delicate traits as she curled her hand around the neck of the attractive dark haired man. He looked at her with a surprised look as he let the woman next to him pull him down for a quick kiss.

Emma felt as if she had a bucket of ice water thrown on her as she straightened herself, the smile on her face disappearing as she froze on her spot. She faked a smile, not wanting to look like a fool (since she clearly felt like one in this moment).

"I'm sorry I'm late, there was something I needed to attend to at the salon before I could leave." The woman then turned to look at Emma with a big smile as she propelled her hand forward for a handshake.

"You must be Emma Swan." She told her as Emma tried to hide the surprise on her face, which she was pretty convinced failed.

"Uh, yes I am."

"I'm Ariel. I see you've already met my fiancé Killian." The redhead smiled at her which she tried to mirror as she tried to avoid looking at him.

"Yes, I have." Emma spat the words and was almost surprised when Ariel didn't notice the tone of her voice. She was so mad right now at herself for letting herself get carried away by those emotions to which she had already told herself long time ago not to trust, and once again proved her right. At him, for flirting back with her when he's engaged, _typical man_ she kept thinking.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I know our appointment was at eleven but I got held back at work." This encounter with Killian was getting worse and worse. The couple before her was the new clients she was welcoming today, the couple that wanted to have their wedding garments custom made, which meant she would have to spend loads of time with them, her and _him_.

The only thought coursing through her mind at that moment was '_fuck my life'._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hi everyone! I'm sooooooo sorry it has taken me this long to update this story (especially since it's a gift for oncertwice for her birthday…..last month). I've been struggling a lot with my writing lately and I have been working on this chapter for a month now! This update isn't much (lenght wise) but I really wanted to post something even if it was a small one. **_

_**Many thanks to navykillian for being my beta!**_

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She felt like a fool- like a goddamn fool.

The tension in her office was thick, as she skillfully avoided talking directly to the groom and prompted her attention to the bride, who was very excited to talk about wedding garments. Usually she would be to, but in this very moment, she wanted nothing more than to vanish into thin air and hide under her covers for a week.

Emma shamelessly flirted with the groom and was more than ready to ask for his number. To her excuse, she didn't know (even though a man standing alone looking at wedding garments is either a groom, a man working in fashion, or gay) and he was flirting back, not to mention he was waiting for his _fiancée_.

_Men._

Killian was sitting across from her in silence, Ariel doing most of the speaking which was something pretty common in her experience. Emma scribbled some information in her notebook as she continued asking her usual questions concerning their wedding and preparing a schedule as she put on her most genuine smile.

The torture ended an hour later, as her new clients left her office. She shook their hands skillfully avoiding eye contact with Killian as she walked them to the door. Despite everything, she still was a professional. When the happy couple left the shop, Emma went back to her office to bury herself in work, wanting to forget the humiliation she just put herself through.

Today proved to her once again that when it comes to the opposite sex, she doesn't have any luck.

-/-

He didn't know why he flirted back. It wasn't his style to start flirting with a random woman he just casually met; well, not since Ariel. He did occasionally turn on the charm, knowing the effect he had on women, but he never flirted this way. The moment he laid eyes on her, he was pulled towards her. His body instantly reacted to the gorgeous, stunning blonde in front of him. The words slipped out of his mouth without him even thinking twice about them and he liked the way he made her smile, the occasional pink shade covering the apple of her cheeks.

When Ariel arrived, his fiancée, it was as if a bucket of water had been thrown on him, waking him up from a dream or that his dream suddenly turned into a nightmare. Kilian was grateful that Ariel was too excited to notice the heavy tension that was now between their designer and him. He felt like a cheating bastard, his stomach twisting in a tight knot as he saw the way Emma's face fell, and the forced smile she shot him when she told his fiancée that she did indeed have the pleasure to meet him.

Ariel tugged on his arm so he would follow Emma to her office, his feets feeling heavy as he walked to the back. They entered her workspace which was basically a fitting room, mirrors on one side and on the other side a sewing machine, a headless mannequin, fabrics draped here and there and a ton of others mysterious items Killian didn't recognize. Emma led them through another door in which her office was hidden. She sat behind her desk as Killian and Ariel sat next to one another in the chairs.

Emma took what seemed to be her notebook filled with little notes here and there and grabbed one of the pens that was laying across her desk and looked up at them with a smile. To be more accurate, she looked up at Ariel and spent the whole meeting talking directly to his fiancée even when he answered her question. He couldn't blame her.

His girlfriend didn't seem to notice since she was obviously excited to meet _the_ Emma Swan. The moment he had asked her hand in marriage, she had talked and talked about the fact that she wanted the best designer making their garments. He had found it endearing how she was enthusiastic about the whole wedding and how passionate she was about it, even though Ariel was often passionate over the tiniest thing.

Killian Jones has never been a man to tie himself down in a relationship, since he never felt any intense emotions for any woman, and he often wondered why he didn't and with time he told himself that maybe he was just one of those people who wouldn't experience love.

He was a passionate man. Passionate about his family, his work, sailing, and women. He never denied the fact that he loved the company of women, even if they were different every night, that is until he met Ariel. He had met her at a party that Anna, Liam's wife's sister had thrown at her place.

The moment he laid eyes on her, he knew it was different what he was feeling, but couldn't quite place the feeling. It was now two years later, and Ariel was still by his side and he had come to label the feeling he had for her as love, since it was the first time he felt that way about any woman. Killian knew that he wasn't exactly in love with her but he did genuinely care for Ariel. He had come to terms with himself that maybe that was as good as he was going to get.

The meeting with their designer finally came to an end, and Killian was grateful for it, but couldn't shake the need to walk up to Emma and apologize and explain himself. He knew it wasn't the time, with Ariel next to him and also how Emma held herself. He might have just met her an hour ago and talked to her only briefly, but he sensed that she wasn't going to react nicely to all of this. He told himself that he was going to have plenty of other chances to apologize to her and that it was probably best to leave that matter at rest for now.

He walked Ariel back to her hair salon, _Under the Sea_. Killian found her obsession with mermaids quite endearing since for his part, he loved a good pirate story. When they had first met it was the first thing they bonded over, Killian telling her she was a mermaid bringing him, the pirate, to his death. He smiled at the thought of his first meeting and realized how much he was happy with her.

Ariel kissed him goodbye before walking inside her salon as he turned around and headed back to his office and went on with his day as he usually would. His mind did drift occasionally to the blonde he had met that morning, his chest tightening whenever he remembered the way she looked when Ariel arrived and how closed off she was with him during the meeting. He couldn't blame her. He even gave all the reason to reacting that way but it still pained him since he didn't want her to feel bad or betrayed.

Killian sighed as he leaned back in his chair, his fingers lacing together behind his head as he stared at the ceiling of his office. He tried to figure out his schedule for the following day wanting to make some time to head back to her shop and apologize.

The next day, after his lunch break he found some free time to head back to the _Enchanted Swan_. The same receptionist welcomed him as he walked inside as he gave her one of his most charming smile.

"Good afternoon, how can I help you?" the woman asked him as she looked out from her screen and turned her head to look at him.

"I came in here yesterday to meet with the designer of my wedding garments, and I forgot to mention some important information concerning the garments to her. Is Emma Swan here today? "

"Yes she is. What's your name, Sir?"

"Killian Jones."

"Let me see if she's available." The woman got up from her desk and walked towards the door he knew was Emma's office.

Killian walked around the store as he hoped that she would receive him and took a deep breath. A moment later Ella, the receptionist, came out of her boss's office and told him that he could go in. He nodded at her as he gave a thankful smile and walked the few steps that were separating him and the door.

As he entered the room, he was caught off guard by the sight of Emma. He had expected to come into her office and see her behind her desk with a stern and scolding face but she was not. Emma had taken off her heels and was standing barefoot in front of a mannequin wearing a wedding dress that looked as if it was out of a fairytale book. Her hair was up in a messy bun with a few pencils caught in it. Her features were as delicate and beautiful as the first time he saw her, but he could tell she was focused on the task at hand, her fingers altering a part of the dress.

Killian couldn't help but to stare, entranced by her. Emma seemed to be as caught up but by her work. He cleared his throat to make his presence known as she lifted her head from her work, with a needle safely locked between her teeth.

She straightened herself and took the needle out from her mouth and tucked a loose strand of hair safely behind her ear. Her previous laid back stance disappeared and the professional one came to surface as she slipped her feet back in her high heels.

"My receptionist told me you needed to give me some information about the garments," Emma said as she broke the awkward silence and walked towards her desk as she seated herself behind it.

Killian chuckled uncomfortably as he shifted on his feet. He looked up at her and saw the serious glance she was casting him and knew he had been right to have come up with that excuse.

"Not really. Something told me that if I told her that I wanted to talk to you, you wouldn't have had time to see me, or something like that." His eyes locked with hers as he noticed the battle going behind her emerald eyes.

"That's probably what would've happened," Emma whispered. She took a deep breath as she looked around her desk, her fingers lacing together as she pulled herself in a cold and professional demeanor.

"What do you want to talk about?" Her voice came out harsh, the tone making him wince. Not at all the same charming and warm woman he had meet the previous day.

Killian walked towards her desk and sat in the chair in front of her desk as he made sure to keep his eyes on her.

"I wanted to apologize." That made her react, silently asking him to go on.

"I know that it seems pointless to change your mind, since I guess you pretty much made it up, but I still think an apology is in order."

Emma shifted in her chair and then leaned back in a more comfortable stance as she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"And why is that? Because you blatantly flirted with the designer of your wedding clothes or because you didn't tell me your were engaged?"

Killian winced at her words, realizing how badly this whole situation made him look.

"Both I guess. To be honest, I didn't know you were the designer that Ariel had been raving about ever since we got engaged."

"So that excuses you from flirting with another woman who isn't your fianceé?" Her tone was now slightly outraged as he realized that he was just digging himself a deeper hole.

"I don't flirt with other women." At those words Emma scoffed as dry laugh then left her mouth. She shook her head in disbelief before settling her eyes on his once more.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Aye," he timidly answered as he felt himself shrink on his seat.

"If so, why me?"

Killian took a deep breath as he tried to find the right words for her question, as he didn't even know himself. There was just something about her that attracted him, he just didn't know what, how to explain it.

"I just felt that there was a connection between us. I can't explain it otherwise." Emma stood still, her green eyes locked on his, before her eyelashes fluttered and then looked away as she clearly felt somewhat uneasy.

"We are going to spend a lot of time together for the next few months. Don't you think we should at least be on agreeable terms? Start over?"

Emma pondered on his offer as her fingers toyed with a pencil that was laying on her desk. After a minute or two she raised her head to meet his gaze as she took a deep breath which seemed to be resign one.

"Fine, let's start over." Killian couldn't help the grin that appeared on his face upon hearing her words. He got up and propelled his hand forward and waited in mid-air awaiting for her to do the same.

She got up from her desk and mirrored his stance. Her hand was reaching for his when she abruptly stopped and looked at him with a stern and warning look.

"No funny business." He nodded at her final warning, and then they both shook on it.

Killian tried to ignore the sparks that ignited the moment her hand touched his and how his heart swelled with pride when he saw her smile again.


End file.
